The Trilogy I really want to see…

Many books find their way into the cinemas, some more deserving than others, but there is one trilogy that I would love to see…

The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Starting in 2026 with the launch of the mission to colonise Mars, the story moves between getting to, initial terraforming of and the creation of water on Mars, told from the point of view of the colonists and their descendents. It is not merely a soap opera though, as the books deal with a multitude of issues, including the political, environmental, religious, economic, and philosphical, while still rooting the whole piece in ‘solid’ science.

It is the solid science foundation that really lets the books develop realistically, in that even if there are vast aspects of the story that are beyond our current abilities, a plausible explanation or concept has been devised to enable that plot element to thrive; no fantastical flying cars here! Having said that, this is also no dry scientific tome, as the human element is also considered throughout, including the emotional and spiritual ramifications of their journey, although the personal side of the characters isn’t always handled as well as I might like.

Even with the occasional misstep in the interpersonal elements of the characterisation, this is still an excellent work, which is no doubt why these books have won numerous Nebula, Locus, and Hugo awards.

Despite being published in 1992 (Red Mars), 1994 (Green Mars) and 1996 (Blue Mars), there has still not been a film version of any of the books. At various stages it has been rumoured that James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, and Jonathan Hensleigh were going to do adaptations, but ultimately these didn’t happen. What needs to happen is for someone with real vision to grab this project and make an epic trilogy.

4 responses to “The Trilogy I really want to see…”

These sound like the type of books that are right up my street. I think I will invest or see if my wife can download them onto Kindle. There were a collection of books by Piers Anthony called ‘The Incarnations of Imortality’ series outlining the major incarnations of Death, Time, Nature, Mars, Satan & God. I can recommend

I started reading Red Mars some years back, but it failed to really grab me. I should probably try again now that my tastes have matured a bit, since I remember my Dad telling me how good they were after I flaked out and gave up half way through the first one!